HP signs deal to acquire Printelligent

Technology giant Hewlett-Packard will acquire Printelligent to bolster its position in managed printing services for business clients, the two companies said on Tuesday.

An agreement between the two will let HP acquire all of privately-held Printelligent's assets, including infrastructure, software and workforce, the parties said in a statement. HP will combine those assets with its existing sales channels and broader services, the statement said.

The deal will give HP more leverage in offering clients unified management of large numbers of copiers, printers and fax machines. Companies with hundreds of employees often outsource this job, known as managed printing services, to organize documents, reduce hardware dependency and increase work efficiency.

Printelligent has clients in 728 U.S. cities and manages about million printed documents per year, the 23-year-old company says on its website.

HP said in 2009 it would form a new group to step up managed print services and start a program to help business customers reduce printer hardware. The company already offered printing services at the time, but the dedicated business unit was expected to add to that focus.

The acquisition of Printelligent strengthens HP's services particularly for small and mid-sized business clients, Vyomesh Joshi, company executive vice president, said in the statement. Joshi anticipated "a level of technology and experience that is unprecedented in the industry."

Medium-sized companies offer the most potential as clients for managed print services, with projected compound annual growth rates of 14 percent to 23 percent over five years, market research firm IDC forecasts.

The two companies would not disclose financial terms of the acquisition, which is expected to become final in HP's fiscal third quarter this year, the statement said.

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